Aphrodite’s Innocence
by Chronos Kitsune
Summary: Nadil has returned but Rath is now a modern college art student, who creates a masterpiece using Rune as a model, offering Nadil the perfect chance to get his revenge. Rath/Rune/Nadil
1. Prologue

This is the first story I've written myself, so please be kind.

If I owned Dragon Knights Cesia would not exist and Rath would be with Rune, simple as that.

Summary: Rath is a college art student with considerable promise, promise that he doesn't see in himself. When he paints a portrait of Rune, it quickly becomes famous, but Rath wont sell it. Rune may have saved Rath from himself, but now Rath must save Rune from Nadil, who became obsessed with Rune when he saw Rath's painting.

Warnings: Gend-bending (yes, Rune is a girl), rape in later chapters, and possible character death.

Aphrodite's Innocence

Prologue

'_No, no, it's all wrong!' He ripped the art from the walls. The art that had been his soul, that he had worked on for so long, it was all wrong! How could this happen? What had happened to all the beauty he had poured into them?_

'_That's right,' he whispered as he sunk to his knees. 'My paintings can't be beautiful. How can you paint beauty if you've never seen it, never care about? It's all just one huge waste. I should give up.'_

_Give up. That was something he always said he should do, but he never did. Sure, he would stop for a while, but then he would be inspired and start again. And then, this, he would realize just how horrible his so-called beauty really was. _

'_I don't know how much longer I can take this.'_

Kai-stern waited until the noise had quieted down before he opened the door. He sighed as he saw the mess Rath had created. "I'll never understand why you do this, Rath," the albino said as he walked over to the boy, who was lying unconscious on the floor.

He picked up Rath and carried him to the young painter's room. "Well, at least you're getting some rest."

He turned to go and saw Cernozura standing in the doorway. She looked sadly at the sleeping boy before turning her gaze to Kai-stern. "If you wouldn't mind, Cernozura, his art room needs to be cleaned again."

The maid nodded. "Of course. I'll let Raseleane know. She'll want to look after him.

Kai-stern glance behind him at Rath. "He just exhausted himself again. I just wish I knew how we could help him."

"Don't worry," Cernozura said, smiling softly at him. "You'll figure it out."

The albino watched her go and then sighed. "I hope so," he whispered to himself.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rath sat on a bench next to his best friend Thatz. They still had an hour before their next class so they were just hanging around campus to kill time.

It had been a few weeks since Rath had destroyed all his work. The only things he had painted since then had been for class, but they had no spirit, no life.

"So, Gil was talking about your new assignment. Said he was going to use Bierrez as his model."

Rath snorted. "That's a shocker," he said sarcastically.

Gil was another art student who took class with Rath. He was dating Bierrez, who no one knew what he was majoring in. Thatz theorized that he had just picked random classes to annoy people, and Rath had to agree. Bierrez seemed to appear just about everywhere.

Thatz just rolled his eyes. "Do you know who you're using as a model yet?"

"Nope."

"Well, if you can't find anyone, you can always use me!"

Rath just raised an eyebrow at him. He was about to say something when he saw something that caught his eye. "Who is that?" Rath asked, pointing to a blonde with blue eyes. She was talking to Tintlet, another student in Rath's art class.

"Hm?" Thatz turned to look behind him. "Oh, that's Rune, Tintlet's little sister. Good luck getting near her though."

Rath just looked at him questioningly. "Why would I have trouble?"

"Dude, didn't you just hear me? She's Tintlet's little sister, meaning she's Nohiro's little sister as well."

Rath's left eye twitched at the mention of Nohiro's name. Nohiro and Rath did not get along at all, and that was all there was to it. It wasn't that they hated each other; it was that they didn't want to be around each other or even think about the other. If Rune was Nohiro's sister, then he wasn't going to let her anywhere close to Rath.

"Yeah, I'm surprised he even let her come on campus knowing that you were here. Why did you want to know anyways? Aw man, don't tell me…"

"Inspiration."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Like? Dislike? Please let me know. The chapters themselves will be longer than this, promise. But anyways, it's 2am so I'm going to bed now.


	2. Introductions

Sorry it took so long. I was having this huge debate of either to rewrite the prologue or not. Well, I finally decided not to, mainly because every time I looked at it I just didn't know how to change it. Oh well, here's the first chapter, which I hope everyone likes.

Disclaimer: Don't own

I did some major plot changes so I also changed the summary.

New Summary: Nadil has returned but Rath is now a modern college art student, who creates a masterpiece using Rune as a model, offering Nadil the perfect chance to get his revenge. Rath/Rune/Nadil

Couples: Alright, so far the only couples that is actually together in the story are Bierrez/Gil and Tetheus/Thatz (although that hasn't been mentioned yet.) There will defiantly be Rath/Rune and Nadil/Rune later on, but there are a few couples I want to try, but I want feedback before I put them in here. The first is Kharl/Nohiro. The second is a yuri couple which is actually a request from a friend, but if I do put it in there wont be much. This would be Kitchel/Tintlet.

So please let me know what you think about the couples!

Aphrodite's Innocence

Chapter 1

Introductions

Rath glared at the scene in front of him. Thatz, who stood beside him, just blinked, unable to find what was so funny. Cesia, however, had started laughing as soon as Rath said he wanted to meet Rune.

"Alright, what's so funny?" Rath finally snapped at his childhood friend.

"Sorry, sorry," Cesia said as she finally regained her composure. "It's just the irony of it all was pretty funny."

"Irony? What's ironic about this situation?"

"Rune is my roommate."

Rath and Thatz both blinked, staring at the dark haired girl. After a moment, Thatz burst out laughing.

Ignoring Thatz, Rath focused on Cesia. "But I thought Nohiro was very protective of her. Wouldn't he have made sure that she was rooming with Tintlet?"

"Tintlet's rooming with Kitchel already, and Nohiro's rooming with their oldest brother Saabel, not that she'd stay with either of them anyways. So, since I just moved into an apartment, she asked if she could room with me."

"How do you know her?"

"We went to grade school together, but different high schools. We still kept in contact, though, so we were both pretty excited when someone else we knew was coming to the same college."

"But you know us!" Thatz said with a trace of mock indignation.

"Yeah, but you're both guys. It's different because I can talk about things with Rune that I can't with you guys."

"So you could introduce us?"

Cesia shrugged. "Sure, why not. Come over tomorrow night." She stood up, picking her books off the restaurant table at the same time. "You know what's funny about this?" Without giving them a chance to reply she continued on, answering her own question. "You could have asked Bierrez to introduce you as well."

"Bierrez?"

"Yeah. She works as a waitress at the same restaurant that Bierrez is a chief at.(1)."

"Talk about a small world."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Uh, Bierrez, I don't think kicking it is going to make it start."

Rune let out a small 'eep' as Bierrez turned to glare at her, stopping his abuse of his non working car. Bierrez's gaze softened as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You have a phone I can borrow, Rune?"

"Sure," Rune said as she slid the thin cell phone from a pocket and handed it over.

Bierrez tapped his foot impatiently against the blacktop, waiting for the voice mail to pick up. Gil wouldn't be off work yet, so he wouldn't pick up his phone. "Hey, my car broke down so I need you to pick me up when you get off work. Love you." Bierrez whispered the last part, embarrassed about saying it in front of Rune, but still determined to say it.

Bierrez hung up and handed the phone back to Rath. "If you need a ride I can give you one."

"Thanks, but Gil's coming to pick me up."

"Doesn't he work at Kinko's?" At Bierrez's nod she continued. "Well, it's only a few blocks from my apartment. You can stay there until Gil comes so he doesn't have to drive all the way out here." Bierrez, unable to argue, gave in with a mumbled 'whatever.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rune opened the door to her apartment to be greeted with a shout of "What took you so long!" from Cesia.

Bierrez's car broke down, so I brought him here until Gil could come to pick him up," Rune said as she laid her keys on the kitchen counter and hung up her jacket.

"Hi, Bierrez," Cesia said, barely sparing a glance at the orange haired man. "Come on, Rune. There's someone I want you to meet."

Cesia dragged Rune over to the couch and shoved her down so she was sitting beside Rath. "Rune, this is Rath. I've known him since forever. He's a really amazing artist. You should model for him sometime."

"Cesia!"

"Huh?"

But Cesia had already walked off to talk to Bierrez.

"Sorry about that," Rath sighed, unable to look at Rune.

"It's alright. Cesia's always been very straight forward."

"Yeah." Rath glance up at Rune, only to suddenly have reality fade away. Rune was still there, smiling kindly at him, but she was dressed in an elegant gown and her smile was one she gave only to him. The dorm room had changed as well. The walls faded, replaced by a lavish garden, one Rath knew very well from somewhere long ago.

"Are you alright?" Rune asked, looking at him in concern. Cesia and Bierrez were both looking at him as well, although Bierrez didn't seem as concerned as the two girls.

"Yeah, just tired." Rath stood up and stretched. "See you later, Cesia. Nice meeting you Rune. Bierrez." He spat out the last name as if it was poison.

Right as Rath reached for the door there was a knock. "That must be Gil," Rune said as she brushed past Rath and opened the door. "Hi, Gil."

"Hi, Rune. Thanks for taking care of Bierrez."

"It wasn't a problem."

"Stop talking about me like I'm a child!"

"You are a child."

"Shut up, Illuser."

"Break any of my stuff and I'll kick your ass!"

"Stop fighting!"

Rune fell forward as she was accidentally shoved forward by Bierrez, slamming into Rath. Both went crashing to the floor, all commotion ceasing as everyone saw the position the two had fallen in.

Rath and Rune had landed in a lip lock, and when Rath had tried to brace himself against the fall he had accidentally grabbed Rune's chest.

Everyone froze, not really certain what to do. That was until they hear, "Rath Illuser, what the hell are you doing to my little sister!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Shyrendora, what just happened?"

Shyrendora bowed before Nadil, unable to look her lord in the eye. "My spell is failing, Milord." She knew there was no point in lying to him. It would only be worse if she did.

Nadil was silent for a moment, contemplating the news. "Is there any way to reinforce it?"

Shyrendora shook her head. "If they had not all met up then it might be possible, but it is because they have all come together that the spell is breaking and they are regaining their memories of their past lives."

"We should prepare for them, Milord. The Dragon Lord and his Officers already have their memories back and Rath will most likely come after you when he remembers what you did to Rune."

Nadil turned to glance at Shydeman. He went over the information in his mind before turning back to Shyrendora. "How far gone is the spell on Rath?"

"His was the first to fail. As soon as he saw Rune I lost control of the spell on him."

"And what about Rune?"

"Nothing yet, Milord, but it wont be long before she remembers as well."

"Very well. Shyrendora, break your hold the spell for everyone except Rune. As long as she doesn't remember before I set my plan into action everything will still go according to plan."

"Yes, Milord." Shyrendora vanished, leaving to fulfill her lords orders.

"Are you still planning revenge on Rune?"

Nadil turned his focus to Shydeman. "Of course. She ruined my attempt to come back and destroy the Dragon Tribe for good. I took her soul then, now I will ruin her body. She will not escape from me."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

There you go. Chapter 2 is nearly finished so it should be up soon. Reviews make me type faster, so let me know what you think. Don't forget to tell me about the couples I mentioned before so I know if I should write them in or not.


	3. Anger, Envy, and Lust

I apologize to everyone who has been waiting so long for me to update, but I finally was able to obtain a position in a job I have been dreaming of having since I was a child. Unfortunately this job takes me away from home for months at a time, and I am unable to update while away. However, I do take notebooks with me, so for the next few weeks while I'm at home, hopefully I'll be able to give you a few chapters for each of my stories. I hope you all understand, and I'm sorry for not informing you of this earlier.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and stayed with this story!

Disclaimer: …No, just no.

Aphrodite's Innocence

Chapter 2

Anger, Envy, and Lust

"_Rath Illuser, what the hell are you doing to my little sister!"_

Rune scrambled backwards, raising her hands to cover her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she said with a shaking voice. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Rath said as he stood up. "Don't worry about it. It was Bierrez's fault anyways."

"What is going on?" Nohiro shouted, anger increasing at being ignored.

"It was just an accident, Nohiro. There's nothing to get upset over," Rune said, offended by her brother's actions and trying to calm him down at the same time.

Nohiro just glared at Rath, who glared right back. A tense silence fell over the group until Saabel pushed his way into the room. "Get over it," he said as he sat down on the couch and picked up the remote. "It's not like Rath staged an accident just so he could kiss Rune."

"I bet that's exactly what he did," Nohiro muttered as he shoved passed Rath.

"Nohiro," Rath snapped. "If I wanted to kiss your sister I wouldn't make it look like an accident. I'd do it like this." Before anyone could stop him Rath swept Rune into his embrace and kissed her deeply. He felt fire course through his body as his lips fit perfectly over Rune's. As her hands gripped his shirt, pulling him closer, Rath's heart both skipped a beat and raced at the same time. Never before had he felt such exhilaration.

And then he saw stars. There was a sharp pain growing around his left eye as he felt someone guiding him, forcing him to lay down. He was dimly aware of a girl shouting and people protesting as they were pushed out of the dorm room.

The door slammed shut and suddenly there was a warm presence beside him. "Are you all right?" Rune asked, gentle fingers prodding at Rath's newly formed black eye.

Rath sucked in sharply. "Yeah. I should have expected him to overreact like that."

Rune smiled gently at him. "Yes, you should have. But for now hold this to your face to help with the swelling. You can stay here tonight if you need to but there's no way you're going to be able to drive home."

"Thanks," Rath said, taking the ice pack from Rune. "But I can call someone to come get. My mom's the sort of person who freaks out over ever little injury."

"All right," Rune said gently, still smiling at him. "I'll get you the phone."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Cesia closed the door to her room softly, leaning back on it as she shut her eyes as well. Seeing Rath with Rune had sent a chill to her heart. Even now, knowing that Rune was out there taking care of him made her heart ache.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered to the empty room. "I've never felt this way about Rath before, so why now?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rath hung up the phone and listened to Rune hum as she cleaned the dishes for a moment. "Rune," he said softly. She stopped humming and turned toward him, a dish and towel still in her hands. "I really would like for you to be a model for me some time."

"As long as you don't want me to pose nude for you, I don't see why not," Rune said making Rath blush.

"N-no, not at all!" Rath almost shouted. "I-I just wanted to…"

Rune chuckled lightly. "Don't worry about it, Rath. I was simply teasing. When would you like me to do so?"

"Um, well…" Rath trailed off. He hadn't expected Rune to say yes so quickly. "I'm free tomorrow if you have nothing going on then…" he said, trailing off again.

"Tomorrow's good," Rune said, wiping her hands off on a dry towel. She walked over to a drawer and pulled out a notepad and pen. "Just write down your address for me. Your phone number would be helpful too."

Rath nodded taking the paper and pen from her. He quickly scribbled down the information before handing it back to the blonde. "You wont be able to miss it," Rath said just before the doorbell rang.

Rune nodded and went to answer the door, Rath right behind her. Kai-Stern stood on the other side and whistled low when he saw Rath. "He really got you good," the older man said.

"Yeah, whatever," Rath said as he stepped out of the dorm. "Thanks," he said to Rune.

"No problem, and sorry about Nohiro."

Rath smiled at her and shook his head. "You really need to stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault."

Rune lowered her head slightly, embarrassed. "Well," she said softly. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Rath nodded again before walking toward the stairs, Kai-Stern following on his heels, looking over his shoulder at Rune until she shut the door.

"So," the albino man said, "who was that?"

"None of your business," Rath snapped at the man, speeding up his steps.

"Really? Then why are you seeing her tomorrow?"

"She's going to model for me and I expect you and the others to be nice to her."

Kai-Stern stopped in his tracks. "You're going to start painting again?"

Rath didn't answer as he opened the door to Kai-Stern's car and climbed in. The older man just shook his head as he dug his keys out of his pocket and climbed in as well.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_"Rune," he whispered as he drank in the sight of his new wife. Rath slowly walked the distance to the elf, running his hands over her arms before he leaned in and kissed the elf. Rune sighed into the kiss, allowing Rath access to explore her mouth._

_Rath felt himself grow hard quickly. How many times had he dreamed of this, of holding Rune to him, making her his even as he surrendered everything to her? _

_She gasped lightly as Rath undid the snap to her dress, letting it fall around her ankles. They fell backwards onto the soft bed even as Rath unwrapped the cloth Rune used as a breast band. _

_Rune herself had undone the buttons on the front of Rath's shirt, pushing it open as she ran hands over his chiseled muscles. "Rath," she gasped as her husband kissed her neck, working his way down until he took one of Rune's sensitive nipples into his mouth, his hands quickly ridding her of the lace panties she wore. "Rath!" _

"_Gods, Rune," Rath moaned. Somehow Rune had managed to get his shirt completely off and it now lay somewhere on the floor. But Rath didn't care. Rune had undone the ties to his pants and his member sprung forth. Rath stared at Rune's face as she stared at his manhood. Slowly, even so slowly, Rune raised her hand to grasp him…_

Rath bolted upright as he woke. He was breathing hard, head aching as he remembered why he now had a raging hard on. "Damn it," he whispered. "Why is she doing this to me?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rath had been unable to go back to sleep after the dream he had of Rune, so he decided to get up and walk the corridors of the huge building he called home. It was early, the sun just coming up, and most of the house was still asleep, servants reluctantly getting out of their beds to start work.

For some reason Rath had felt compelled to bring his sketchbook and was glad he did when he looked into the room his mother kept many of her favorite indoor plants. It was a spacious room, with large open arches that led outside, letting the sun gently slip into the room.

His mother, Raseleane, was bent over a plant she had just watered, running a gentle hand over his leaves to make sure it was doing well. The sunlight illuminated her on one side, leaving the rest of her body in shadow.

Rath immediately pulled out his sketchbook, his pencil flying over the page. Raseleane looked up when she heard him, but Rath shook his hands. "Please, Ras," he said, using the nickname he had created as a child for his mother. "Hold that position for just a moment longer."

Raseleane smiled and nodded, turning back to the plant. She had talked to Kai-Stern last night and the albino had told her of Rune. _'It's so good he finally found you, Rune. Hopefully this time you two will be able to enjoy your lives in peace.' _

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rune stared up at the huge house and then back at Rath's address. She did so one more time before gathering her courage and ringing the bell at the front gate that sealed off the sprawling lawn from the rest of the world.

"Please state your name and business," a hard voice said, coming through the intercom.

"I'm here to see Rath," Rune answered, waiting a tense moment before the gates started to swing open.

"Please, come to the front door. I will show you to Rath's room."

Rune sighed and then nodded. "All right," she said to herself. "You can do this," she told herself before walking up the long drive.

It took her a few minutes to arrive at the front door and before she could even knock the door swung open. A tall, dark man with black hair stood in front of her. He nodded to her in greeting. "I'm Tetheus, head of Lykouleon's security force."

"Nice to meet you," Rune answered. "My name is Rune. Rath asked me to come model for him today."

Tetheus raised a single eyebrow at her but his eyes softened. "Follow me please."

Tetheus turned and began leading Rune down hallway after hallway. Rune found it difficult to keep up as she tried to take in everything around her. She couldn't help but think that the place was more of a castle than a home.

All too soon Tetheus stopped. "This is Rath's studio," he said knocking on the door. There was a shuffling sound as Rath stood to come to the door. Tetheus studied Rune for another second before adding, "Rath's not as strong as he seems, Rune. Treat him well."

The security guard turned and walked off, leaving Rune alone, confused about Tetheus' warning. Only a moment later Rath opened the door, breaking Rune away from her thoughts. "Hello," she said, smiling at the boy.

"Hi," Rath responded, opening the door wider and stepping out of the way so Rune could walk into the room.

"So," Rune said a moment later, "what do you need me to do?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

So, what do you think so far? Review and let me know! Hopefully I'll get another chapter up in a week or two, and Amaranth should be updated sometime in the next few days.

Sorry to all the Nadil fans, but don't worry, there will be plenty of our favorite demon lord in the next chapter, along with more flashbacks and Rath/Rune!


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